Jordan : Overview of Tobacco Use, Tobacco Control Legislation, and Taxation
This brief provides an overview of tobacco control legislation, use, and taxation in the country. The prevalence of smoking is rather high in Jordan. The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) found that in 2011, 42.2 percent of people (55.9 percent of...
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| Format: | Brief |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
World Bank, Washington, DC
2019
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| Online Access: | http://documents.worldbank.org/curated/en/809891561045747696/Jordan-Overview-of-Tobacco-Use-Tobacco-Control-Legislation-and-Taxation http://hdl.handle.net/10986/31954 |
| Summary: | This brief provides an overview of
tobacco control legislation, use, and taxation in the
country. The prevalence of smoking is rather high in Jordan.
The Global Adult Tobacco Survey (GATS) found that in 2011,
42.2 percent of people (55.9 percent of men and 23.7 percent
of women) aged 15 and above in Jordan smoked tobacco. Among
those who smoked tobacco, 35.2 percent smoked cigarettes,
and 15.2 percent smoked water-pipe. Smoking cost the country
1 billion Jordanian dinars (JD) in 2012, including money
spent on tobacco and smoking-related diseases, which
amounted to approximately 5 percent of the gross domestic
product. Jordan adopted the National tobacco control
strategy for 2017-2019, which is based on the implementation
of the WHO's MPOWER strategy, a comprehensive set of
tobacco control measures. The strategy seeks to decrease
tobacco use by 30 percent by 2025. While most consumed
tobacco products in Jordan are manufactured within the
country, consistent data on the production of cigarettes and
other tobacco products is not available. According to the
estimates based on the results of the household surveys, in
2003-2013, tobacco consumption in Jordan increased by 58
percent. In 2010-2013, estimated annual cigarette sales were
about 8 billion cigarettes. Till 2014, Jordan had mixed
tobacco excise system with specific tax and ad valorem tax,
which was changed to tier specific excise system. The main
unified specific excise tax gradually increased from 0.42JD
per pack in 2014 to 0.57JD in 2018, or by 36 percent in four
years. The additional tiered specific excise tax has
different rates depending on cigarette price. Tobacco excise
revenue in Jordan increased from 312 million JD in 2012 to
554 million JD in 2016. So, the tobacco taxation policy was
beneficial for government coffers. However, in 2019 the
taxes on cigarettes were not increased. In May 2019, the
government imposed a 200 percent tax on electronic
cigarettes, vapes, and their paraphernalia. Tobacco price
increase in 2010-2016 was rather moderate, and tobacco
affordability almost did not change. Such a situation was
partly caused by the pricing policy of the tobacco industry.
In 2013, to encourage cigarette consumption within the
country, the tobacco industry even decreased cigarette
prices. In 2017 and 2018, tobacco price increase was
substantial, the reduction in tobacco affordability was
large enough, and this has the potential to cause a decrease
in tobacco consumption. The following recommendations can
support the implementation of the National tobacco control
strategy by means of both reducing the tobacco consumption
and increasing the government revenue: excise rates for
cigarettes, water-pipe tobacco, and other tobacco products
should be annually increased by at least 20 percent to
ensure tobacco affordability reduction, tobacco use
surveillance and monitoring should be further strengthened
in Jordan, including a regular collection and public
presentation of information on sales of cigarettes and other
tobacco products, their prices as well as other economic
indicators, effective policies to counteract tobacco
smuggling and other kinds of illicit tobacco sales should be
implemented in line with the provisions of the FCTC Protocol
to Eliminate Illicit Trade in Tobacco Products, which is
recommended to be ratified by the country. |
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